DEADLINE FOR TOY BOX APPLICATIONS IS TODAY

Today is the deadline for submitting applications to the 1995 Toy Box toy drive, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Jaycees and the Southeast Missourian.

Applications must be turned into the Salvation Army, 701 Good Hope, by 4 p.m., said Jackie Thieke.

As of Thursday, about 600 applications had been submitted.

"It's probably going to go up" as applications are turned in today, Thieke said Thursday.

Applications must include children's Social Security numbers.

Children ages 12 and younger who live within the Cape Girardeau city limits are eligible to receive toys through Toy Box.

Toy Box annually delivers toys to more than 1,000 children in Cape Girardeau.

Jaycees Santas and elves will deliver toys to children's homes between 6 and 9 p.m. Dec. 21.

Volunteers are hard at work sorting donations and buying toys to match donations with applicants, said co-chair Kerry Reeves, but toys and cash donations still are needed to make sure children will have a merry Christmas.

Power Rangers, Barbie dolls and sports equipment such as basketballs and baseballs, along with gifts for older children, are all needed items, Reeves said.

New, unwrapped toys can be dropped off at Boatmen's Bank, Capital Bank, Coldwell Banker, Gulliver's Travels, Commerce Bank, Mercantile Bank, First National Bank, Chuck E. Cheese's, West Park Mall or the Southeast Missourian.

Donations may be sent to Toy Box Trust, P.O. Box 4, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0004.